Horkheimer’s critical view of the customer in Western society concentrates on the threatening influence of instrumental reason, a particular field he mentions being marketing…
Abstract
Horkheimer’s critical view of the customer in Western society concentrates on the threatening influence of instrumental reason, a particular field he mentions being marketing. According to him the real autonomy of the customer, the customer as king, has evaporated. Discusses the relevance of this view today, particularly in connection with such recent developments as customization and relationship marketing. In order to come to a better understanding of the subject, some milestones of the history and philosophy of trade are explored, as well as some aspects of the history of marketing. The main conclusion is that, at the moment, Horkheimer’s approach can function as a critical heuristic, but not as a fully adequate diagnosis.
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Flows of ideas and paradigmatic wars are easier to trace through informal memoirs than methodological drill manuals. Sc’MOI’s emergence, flourishing, and decline are linked to a…
Abstract
Flows of ideas and paradigmatic wars are easier to trace through informal memoirs than methodological drill manuals. Sc’MOI’s emergence, flourishing, and decline are linked to a floating group of social scientists with the ambition to introduce managerial research into the humanist fold. Elective affinities linked David Boje and the undersigned to the Chicago economist Deirdre McCloskey, the Cardiff critical theory analyst Hugh Willmott, and the Lund organizational sciences guru Mats Alvesson. The drift from the International Academy of Business Disciplines to the Standing Conference on Management and Organizational Inquiry was accompanied by the Journal of Organizational Change Management. Marginal? Perhaps? But evolution picks up random cultural drifts and turns them into destinies of knowledge production. The narrative, humanist turn survived and kicks forward.